About Web Deployments

If you are choosing an audio/video only deployment, you do not need to install a web server, nor require Cisco WebEx. However, if you are installing a new Cisco Unified MeetingPlace deployment and want to use web conferencing, then you should choose a web server deployment with Cisco WebEx scheduling.

You use Cisco WebEx to schedule meetings and perform administrative functions. You have a Cisco Unified MeetingPlace audio meeting and a Cisco WebEx web meeting.

Unsupported Applications and Configurations

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5 does not support the Cisco WebEx Support Center or Sales Center meeting format. For more information about the Cisco WebEx meeting types, see the Cisco WebEx Meeting Type Definitions.

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5 does not support WebEx-scheduling configurations in which the WebEx site is tightly integrated with WebEx Connect. This is because in such integrations, users are managed by the WebEx Connect Org Administration. Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5 requires that users are managed through either the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace or Cisco WebEx administration interfaces.

Language Support

The web portion of Cisco Unified MeetingPlace is in US English only.

The administrative user interfaces are in US English only.

User Profiles

You cannot lock the system administrator or the recorder profiles.

You cannot delete user profiles from Cisco WebEx. You can only make them "Inactive" or set a Site Admin parameter for XX days of no activity, automically "inactive" profiles.

Meeting Hosts

When the host of a Cisco WebEx meeting leaves, the meeting ends. Therefore, for the meeting to continue, the host needs to make another user the host before he leaves.

Users cannot host two meetings at the same time.

Telephone Restrictions

Only the meeting host can lock and unlock a meeting, which prevents new users from entering the meeting. A meeting can be locked and unlocked from either the telephone (by using the #41 command) or from the web interface (by using the Restrict Access feature).

If you lock the meeting from the web interface by using the Restrict Access feature, the web interface menu option toggles to say Restore Access. However, if you lock the meeting from the telephone, the web interface menu option does not toggle to say Restore Access but instead continues to say Restrict Access, even though the access is already restricted.

Recording Web Meetings

You cannot record the web portion of a meeting on Solaris / RedHat. Only audio meeting recordings should be available.

The system plays the prompt "This meeting may be recorded" for all web meetings, even if the meeting cannot be recorded.

If you start to record the audio or video portion of a meeting, the web portion does not automatically start recording. You have to start recording for the web portion of the meeting manually.

Internal and External Meeting Definitions

Meetings can be either internal or external if the Cisco WebEx Node for MCS is deployed and provisioned to allow Internal and external meeting types:

Internal meetings do not allow any external participants to join. All meetings are held on the internal network which is the Cisco WebEx Node For MCS with no data connections to the cloud. For internal meetings, the real-time meeting traffic stays on-premise because all participants are internal. This is called "on-premise" or "non-hosted". However, you cannot record these meetings.

External meetings are hosted in the cloud and allow external participants. This is also called "off-premise" or "hosted".

A mixed environment is where some meetings are scheduled as internal and others are scheduled as external.

A hybrid meeting is where the web portion of a meeting is external and hosted in the cloud, but the audio and video portion of the meeting is internal.

Internal meetings hosted on the WebEx Node for MCS support only Meeting Center meetings. Event Center and Training Center meeting traffic can be aggregated on the WebEx Node for MCS, but it can be designated only as an external meeting.

Cisco WebEx Meeting Type Definitions

Cisco WebEx has different meeting types that you can choose from, depending on the type of meeting that you want to conduct.

Meeting Type

Description

Used with

Meeting Center

Used to conduct meetings where all attendees can contribute.

Separate host and attendee view.

All deployments

Training Center

Used to train people in a virtual, classroom-like setting.

Users are either presenters (few users) or attendees (many users).* A presenter can assign attendees to a Cisco WebEx breakout room. The presenter starts the breakout room.

A presenter may switch his audio to a breakout room; then all attendees in the breakout room can collaborate without the attendees in the main meeting room.

There can be up to nine breakout rooms per meeting.

Not compatible with Apple Mac systems.

Cisco WebEx scheduling deployments only

Event Center

Used for large events of up to 500 people.

Users are either panelists (very few users) or attendees (all other users).* Attendees cannot dial out or dial in, they just listen to the audio broadcast and view the presentation delivered by the panelist.

Panelists can have a separate session that will not be seen by other attendees.

Planning a Multinode System

Determining Which Web Deployment to Use

To determine which web deployment to use, consider the following:

What kind of end user experience do you want?

Are you installing a new deployment? If yes, you must use Cisco WebEx scheduling.

Are end users migrating from an earlier release of Cisco Unified MeetingPlace? If yes, then you may keep Cisco Unified MeetingPlace scheduling. But if you want more features, we suggest you migrate to Cisco WebEx scheduling.

Note: Single-node deployments with Cisco WebEx scheduling are not supported in Release 8.5.

Do you want to keep meeting traffic internal? If so, we recommend using the Cisco WebEx Node For MCS (installed on a MCS or on a virtual machine). However it is not possible to record meetings that are hosted on the WebEx MCS node.

Note: The Cisco WebEx Node For MCS described in this section is an optional component of the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system. It is not to be confused with the Cisco WebEx Node for ASR and cannot be used for a WebEx SaaS implementation.

Web Deployment Option 1: Cisco WebEx Scheduling, Mixed Meetings

Note: This deployment is also referred to as hybrid, Enterprise Edition, and hosted.

Support for Cisco WebEx mobility features with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace audio

Reservationless meetings must be enabled for meetings scheduled from Cisco WebEx.

Both internal and external participants can attend these meetings.

Considerations for Using Cisco WebEx with Video

In Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5, users may join Cisco WebEx meetings with video, but only through web cameras that are installed on their computers. Users cannot use other Cisco Unified applications with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace meetings. Video is displayed in the video panel within the Cisco WebEx meeting interface and is included in Cisco WebEx meeting recordings.

When you obtain your Cisco WebEx account and site, you choose between Cisco Unified MeetingPlace video conferencing and Cisco WebEx webcam video. The Cisco WebEx site cannot support both types of video at the same time.

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace video conferencing is not included in the Cisco WebEx recordings.

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace video conferencing is available only to users with videohost license privileges. Configure the Video usage user profile field appropriately for your users.

Using Video

For web deployments that use Cisco WebEx scheduling:

Video is not scheduled, ad-hoc use only

Dial in or Outdial within Meeting only are supported

Cisco WebEx Node For MCS does not support Webcams

Recommend disable WebEx Video

Restriction: Webcams and Cisco WebEx-based video can both be used in the same web meeting; however, there is no interoperability between them.

Languages Used for Cisco WebEx Scheduling, Mixed Meetings

The system localizes the Cisco WebEx meeting room based on the profile of each user.

The system localizes the audio portion of the meeting based on the profile of the meeting host.

Which languages are supported depends on Cisco WebEx center type (e.g., Meeting Center supports all specified languages, while the other centers support a subset of languages). So, the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace user profile may offer languages that are not actually supported in all Cisco WebEx meeting types.

Components Used for Cisco WebEx Scheduling, Mixed Meetings

This deployment option comprises the following components:

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Application Server.

Media server for audio and video mixing. You can have either a Hardware Media Server or an Express Media Server.

(Optional) Cisco WebEx Node For MCS.

You can deploy one or more of these components.

For load sharing, you must deploy at least two Cisco WebEx Node For MCS.

You can optionally host the Cisco WebEx Node For MCS on premise to reduce the bandwidth on your internet link.

Cisco WebEx site.

Required in order for the user to join a meeting.

One Cisco WebEx site handles both internal and external meetings.

User Profile Restrictions for Cisco WebEx Scheduling, Mixed Meetings

Deleting user profiles on Cisco Unified MeetingPlace does not disable access to Cisco WebEx. You must deactivate those users through the Cisco WebEx Site Administration. You cannot delete the preconfigured admin, guest, or recorder user profiles.

Cisco Webex Site Administration has a setting that will delete a user profile if there is no activity for a month.

Here are restrictions for the Cisco WebEx driven User Management:

All user profiles must contain information in the First Name and Last Name fields. They cannot be left blank.

Do not modify the field called User ID for an existing user profile. Doing so disables future sign ins to Cisco WebEx by the user. This is also true for system administrator access to the Cisco WebEx Site Administration. Instead of modifying the User ID, create a new user profile in Cisco Unified MeetingPlace and deactivate the previous user profile through the Cisco WebEx Site Administration.

Main phone number field: Cannot exceed 30 characters.

Alternate phone number field: Cannot exceed 30 characters.

Email Address field: Cannot exceed 64 characters. Must be unique, even among deactivated users on the Cisco WebEx site.

The following fields for user profiles are not supported for Cisco WebEx:

Guests can lock and record meetings

Number of retry attempts

Auto-start recording

Information to Give to End Users for This Deployment

Users are created directly on the Cisco WebEx site, and then these user profiles are synchronized with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace. Most user management is done on Cisco WebEx (with a few exceptions that are clearly marked in the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Administration Center (Edit Profile, Usage Configuration, and Meeting Configuration pages) and can be done by users themselves.

Web Deployment Option 2: Cisco WebEx Scheduling, Internal Meetings

Note: This deployment is also referred to as hybrid, Enterprise Edition, and hosted.

In this deployment, the system establishes a direct connection, either from the Cisco WebEx client or from the Cisco WebEx Node For MCS, to the Cisco WebEx site for each meeting, so that data passes through the Cisco WebEx site, which is what enables external access.

When an external user tries to join an internal meeting, which the user can see on the web interface and has a button to join the meeting, the user cannot connect to the meeting and sees a message stating that he is no longer connected to the meeting and the system is trying to reconnect. Only internal users can join meetings in this deployment.

Information to Give to End Users for This Deployment

The system will display an error message to external users who try to join internal meetings. Users will not be told that the reason for the error is that they are external users and the meeting is internal only.